BOCA RATON – In the wake of a summer of speculation that had him relocated across the country, Kyle Lowry not only is in training camp with the Miami Heat, but is back of the view that he again should be the team’s starting point guard.
In the final year of his contract at age 37, and after an offseason of conjecture that had him going to the Portland Trail Blazers, Lowry said after Tuesday ‘s start of Heat training camp at Florida Atlantic University that he is ready to get restarted as a starter.
“I don’t expect to come off the bench,” he said. “I think my job is expecting to be a starting point guard. I’ll do whatever it takes for my team to win basketball games, but I expect to be the starting point guard.”
Sidelined at midseason last season by ongoing knee pain and then finishing the season as the backup point guard to Gabe Vincent, Lowry reported to camp amid different realities than where he ended last season.
In the interim, Vincent departed in free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Damian Lillard, who had sought to be traded to the Heat, wound up being dealt from the Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks.
That had Lowry on the court Monday as the Heat’s lone true point guard with extensive NBA experience.
“I expect to be the starting point guard,” he said.
The comment came before coach Erik Spoelstra addressed the topic.
“No, we haven’t talked about it yet,” Lowry said, “but I expect, my personal self, the way I work, is to be the starting point guard this year.”
Spoelstra, who stayed with Vincent as his playoff starter even after Lowry’s return to health last season, was noncommittal.
“Kyle’s a decorated champion,” Spoelstra said. “We’re going to figure all that out. He’s a major component to what we want to do. I’ll figure things out. I don’t have the answers for a lot of things right now, rotation-wise.
“But that’s what camp’s for. That’s what preseason’s for. And I love that Kyle thinks that way. A lot of guys are thinking that way and we’ll figure out the best lineup.”
As for months of rumors that had him likely headed to Portland for Lillard, Lowry shrugged a veteran shrug.
“I ain’t really hear it, because I was off of social media and all that stuff,” Lowry said. “I heard enough of it. It doesn’t bother me. I mean, listen, business is business and it happens in our league. Our league is about business and whatever teams or organizations do to make themselves better, they do, they decide to do. At the end of the day, it’s all about preparing yourself for our upcoming season.”
The upcoming season will be the last on the three-year, $85 million contract Lowry signed in the 2021 offseason, But he said he is not approaching it as a finish line.
“I feel I had a great summer, got my body right, got myself right,” he said. “And during the Finals run, I was very healthy. I proved I could play and be healthy at the times that I was needed and that was that.
“I’m just motivated. My kids love to watch me play and I want to continue to just play as long as I can. At some point I’ll retire.”
The compromise, Lowry said, is a prudent approach with his playing time. Last season, he loaded up on minutes early, only to pay the price with his knees at midseason.
“A lot of people forget last year how well I was playing,” he said. “I was playing a lot of minutes and I think I overdid it myself. I didn’t take the time when I originally hurt my knee to get it right. I feel great. I don’t expect to be playing 42 minutes, 43 minutes. I don’t expect that. I expect to be doing whatever it takes to help me and help our team be successful.”